Hannah and the Room of Doom
by Laurie is me
Summary: Hannah Abbott finds herself quite afraid of one room, and brings the trio in to help her conqure her fear. Will she able to do it? Or will it cost them a member of the trio?


Disclaimer: I own nothing, don't really want to. I'm happy with playin' in the fanfiction world. I'll put the toys back where I found them, unharmed... well, mostly.

A/N: This was a responce to a Halloween challange on (which for the time being, is down), and I really liked how it turned out so I'm posting it here.

* * *

Hannah watched helplessly as her Transfiguration book slid across the stone floor towards the deserted hallway. She stood from her chair and looked over to where the book had settled. Everything inside her gut told her to stay where she was, to run to her dorm room, to run and hide under her bed.

She heard the chatter from the rest of the cellar common room, she couldn't let them know she was afraid. She tried to tell herself that it was nothing, that the feeling just came from having to reside in a cellar, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something evil resided within those walls.

It had been a study room long ago, but no one had used it since the late eighteen hundreds, the reason was quite a mystery; at least it was for Hannah. She had never actually asked why the room was closed off, she was too frightened of the answer.

She slid her right foot across the floor towards the hallway, which led to the offending room and waited cautiously for any noise. There was none, so she moved her left foot, making her way slowly to the book.

She bent down getting closer to the book, but not taking her eyes off the door. Her fingers touched the cover of the book and a loud crash sounded in front of her.

Hannah's fingers fumbled around the book and she ran away from the hallway and bumped into Terry Boot.

"Where are you running off to?"

Hannah's heart was still pounding in her chest, making her feel as though her entire body was shaking with the rhythm of her own heart.

"I... The DA me- meeting." She said.

It was true, she was scheduled to go over there after she studied, that was where she was headed before her book so menacingly slid towards the offending door. She straightened herself out and started to leave when Terry called back to her.

"That room is haunted you know."

"Haunted?" she asked, keeping her pace as she left the common room and headed to her class.

Terry took this as conformation that she did indeed want to hear his tale, and walked in front of her giving her what she thought might be a maniacal look.

"In eighteen hundred and forty-three two students were in that room studying ruines. As the stones hit the table for the last time, it foretold of their own deaths. Terrified the students locked themselves in that room and did everything in their power to stay alive. They became so crazed that they finally stopped trusting each other and as the story goes they were killed at the hand of the other. The headmaster of the time went to the room only to find their bodies vanished, and something so evil lurked within the walls that he shut it and vowed that anyone who would open that door would meet a most painful death."

Hannah tried not to let the fright she felt within her surface; "You've been trying to scare every girl in the house for a week."

"Take it however you want to, what I've said is the truth." Terry's hands went up and he stopped, allowing Hannah to walk on without the annoyance of his presence.

She tried to clear her thoughts of that stupid room and think about the meeting that was before her. She was almost to the door when she was interrupted from her thinking about not thinking about the room.

"Oy, Mudblood; is it true you're afraid of a _room_?"

Draco Malfoy, king of all that it meant to be Slytherin, walked up to her as his goons Crabb and Goyle (She could never tell which was which) surrounded him.

"Shut it Malfoy." She said with all the courage she could muster.

"Watch your mouth, your talking to a prefect and a superior." Malfoy held his head a little higher.

"Former prefect, Ferret. And there is no way, in any world, you are superior to her."

Harry Potter stood just outside the classroom door flanked by Hermione Granger on his right and Ron Weasley on his left. She never thought she had felt so happy to see the trio in her entire life.

"This isn't any of your business Potter." Malfoy said which caused Crabb and Goyle to flex, but that didn't seem to affect any of them in the least.

"She's a valued member of our club, and a friend, you've made it our business." Hermione crossed her arms in front of her.

"She can't be that valued," Malfoy snorted, "She's a mudblood, and a cowardly one at that, ascared of a wittle room are we Abbott?"

"Watch your mouth Ferret." Harry said in a monotone voice.

Hannah didn't know whether it was the fact that his voice was monotone or that she could feel the power behind it but she shivered at his words and she could tell Malfoy was having a hard time not doing the same.

"What are you going to do, sick the mudbloods and peasant on me?"

"Shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!"

Hannah knew that was her voice, but she was shocked that she would ever say such a thing, to Draco Malfoy of all people.

"Now you've gone and done it." Ron said, "It's one thing to have me mad at you, its one thing to have Harry mad at you, It's just a scary thing to have Hermione mad at you, but now that you've gone and made _her_ mad? I'd rather go live with the spiders."

Hannah knew he was lying, but she wished she could be like he said. She wished she could stand up for herself and not need them here to help her; but the sad truth of it all was that she did need them. She could have never faced any bully, Slytherin or not, by herself.

Malfoy's goons came closer to her, but were stopped by Malfoy.

"If you're so great why don't you prove me wrong?" Malfoy paused and watched as Professor Hagrid came down the corridor towards them, "You and your merry band of friends go and spend all Halloween night in that room. But if you can't pull it off, you have to call me your majesty for the rest of the year."

"And if I win?"

Hannah felt as if she were someone entirely different. She knew she should be hiding behind Professor Hagrid, hoping all of it will just go away.

"The same goes for you. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal"

* * *

The trio decided to get a more permanent contract and had her, and Malfoy, sign one in blood. They also decided to get Colin Crevey's camera and take pictures as proof that they had actually stayed in the room. Hannah was glad that they had done everything to help her, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she wanted nothing to do with that room and she didn't really care about calling Malfoy anything for the rest of the year, because in the end, she would be alive. 

She watched as the last Hufflepuff walked out of the common room and knew it was now or never. Either she go out now and signal them to come in or she could go up to her room and get a good night's sleep.

She opened the door and whispered for them to enter.

She felt something pass her, but before she could scream the trio appeared in the common room.

"It's an invisibility cloak." Ron said as he packed the shiny article in his bag.

Hannah motioned for them to follow her as she went and stood in the offending hallway.

"We could always go back, we don't have to do this." Hermione said from behind her.

Hannah grabbed the knob, and felt her entire hand grow cold. She opened the door and watched as it illuminated by the light of their lantern.

The bookshelves, which went from floor to ceiling, had warped over time which had caused the books to fall to the floor.

Hannah walked inside the room and felt the coldness from her hand spread to her entire body. The trio entered the room, took her picture, and started to set things up.

Ron was laying out sleeping bags while Harry and Hermione went around the room with the lantern. Hannah started to help Ron, but suddenly a noise came from the far side of the room. Harry, with Hermione en tow, went closer to the sound, the light getting further away from Hannah and Ron.

She grabbed onto his shirt and the farther the light went from them, the tighter her grasp. The noise sounded again and Hannah jumped, then grabbed onto Ron himself.

The small light disappeared behind a bookshelf and the seconds seemed like hours, until Hannah heard a growl, then a scream.

Ron ran, and carried along with him Hannah, over to where the light disappeared. Hermione was sitting on the floor while Harry stood with his wand out. Two wolves were frozen against the wall still snarling.

"They must have found some way in here..." Harry said.

"How long will they..." Hannah asked.

"Until I take the spell off, but just in case we should barricade them in here. We can use one of those other book shelves." Harry said.

They re-arranged the bookshelves and went back to their sleeping bags. Hannah gazed into the light of the lantern, it was her lifeline. As long as that was there nothing could go wrong. Even with the fear that would not go away no matter what she did Hannah fell asleep, shutting her eyes as she felt the warmth of the flicker of the lantern almost penetrate her skin.

Hannah awoke to complete darkness. The room was colder and her fingers were numb from it. She frantically felt around trying to find someone there… Had they left her? Was this some cruel joke? Why was it that even in the dark she felt something watching her?

The hair on the back of her neck stood up and even through the darkness she could tell, whatever it was, it was close. She groped her jumper for her wand, but did not find it…

"Someone, wake up." She said as her palms started to sweat.

"Hannah?" Harry's voice came from somewhere close, "Lumos!"

Hannah was about to let out a sigh of relief when light enveloped the room, but screamed at what she saw.

Ron was standing above them, a mad look in his eyes, and ruines stones in his hand. He looked as if he had been dead for days, the red shine had left his hair and his complexion could only be described as gray.

"I don't need these stones to tell your fortune…" A gravely voice came from Ron's mouth.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry yelled, then shook Hermione awake, "Hermione, what do I do!"

Ron was bound for the moment, but already the spell began to wear off.

"What's going on?" She asked as Harry pulled her and Hannah behind one of the bookshelves.

"I thought you would know!" Harry pushed them against the wall as he kept lookout.

"Now I'm supposed to know everything?"

"You never go into something new without researching it thoroughly…" Harry said.

"Oh, right, sorry." Hermione paced the small corner.

"Well?"

"Of course!" Hermione stopped pacing, "It's Halloween! Halloween is the day of the year where the dead are closest to the living! The spirits of this room were able to posses Ron, and have him do their bidding, getting their revenge."

"Great, now how do we stop it without killing Ron?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

A large crash sounded and Harry threw another binding charm at Ron.

"Well if it's a reaction from the holiday shouldn't it just go back when the sun comes up?"

Harry and Hermione froze to look at Hannah.

"Is that stupid?" Hannah asked.

"No, that's good… That gives me an idea. Hermione, give me the time turner."

"I don't have a time turner!"

"Hermione…" Harry warned.

Hermione took off a necklace with an hourglass on the end of it, then handed it to Harry.

Harry took the chain and threw it around all of their necks. Hannah felt odd being so close to them, and she didn't know why he had done any of this, or what a time turner was, but she decided to trust them.

Harry turned the hourglass forward a couple of times and before she knew what was going on it, light from one of the windows bathed part of the room in an orange glow among the darkness.

"Harry, I don't know if we should have done that, I've never gone ahead in time before…"

"It was either this or face off with Ron and risk hurting him." Harry gave the necklace back to Hermione and looked to where Ron had been.

Ron was on the floor, eyes closed. He was still pale, but he seemed peaceful. Harry and Hermione began to approach him, followed closely by Hannah. Harry bent down and shook Ron's shoulder.

Ron jumped up and tried to attack Harry but Hannah pushed him away with all her might and Ron fell on the floor, which was covered in sunlight.

Ron then began to convulse, his body flailing every which way. It seemed like an eternity before he stopped, and when he finally did the entire castle seemed to grow quiet.

Ron's head went up and he looked over to them, "Did I fall asleep? Sorry, I didn't mean to… What?"

* * *

Hannah entered the Great Hall, books in her hands, and a smile on her face. 

Ron had recovered rather quickly from whatever happened to him, and didn't seem to remember a thing from when the spirit was within him.

Once the entire event was over they went directly to Dumbledore, and when Hannah expected at least a large amount of scolding Dumbledore actually seemed pleased with her 'bravery.' She had never thought to call it that, in fact, in that moment she had never even thought at all; she just did as she felt.

Apparently the Headmaster at the time of the students deaths was Phineas Nigellus, and the reason he didn't see the need to lock the door was his feeling that any whiney child that found their way in that room, with all the warnings beforehand, deserved the fate they would have. The spirit that was forming in that room was similar to Peeves, not actually being a person that has died, but the culmination of a certain feeling that humans give off, or feeds on those feelings.

Malfoy was just about to pass her when he stopped in his tracks.

"Your Majesty." He said through gritted teeth.

Hannah smiled and walked on.

She realized that night that fear is necessary, someone who is brave doesn't just throw away their fears, they face them, and that's where they draw strength from, that's the only way to be strong; to be afraid. She decided that she had quite the potential for strength, with all she was afraid of, so everything would be all right.

"Hannah, over here." Hermione waved for her to join them.

This was going to be a good year.


End file.
